Here is a list of my favourite places in London to get Vegetarian food. The first group are actual vegetarian restaurants. The second group are restaurants that just happen to have good vegetarian options. They are presented in no particular order.
Vegetarian restaurants
Tibbits
Tibits is a vegetarian buffet restaurant that started in Switzerland and has now come over to London. They have both hot and cold food. The food is of very high quality. They have pastas, lasagnes, vegetables and salads.
When you go in you get a plate and fill it up with whatever you want. At the till they weigh the plate and you simply pay for the mass of food that you have bought. You get a bread roll with your food as well.
Price: About £10 for a plate depending on the weight of the food
Address: 12-14 Heddon Street, off Regent Street, London, W1B 4DA
Web: http://www.tibits.co.uk/
Sagar Restaurant
Sagar is a restaurant serving vegetarian Indian food. There is one in Hammersmith and this one in central London. You can get food such as dosa and thalis. There is a range of deserts and drinks such as lassi.
The interior is clean and the food is tasty.
Price: Less than £10
Address: 17a Percy Street, London W1T 1DU
Red Veg – Sadly closed now :(
A lot of vegetarian restaurants can have a bit of a ‘hippy’ atmosphere with pan pipe music and many plants inside. It is nice to have something different in the form of Red Veg. It is a fast food outlet which serves burgers, hot dogs, wraps and chips. It is very tiny – there are a few seats but not enough to guarantee you a seat. This is more a place to buy fast food to take out.
Update: Since I originally wrote this Red Veg has closed. But check out their website for the location of their Brighton location.
Price: Less than £10
Address: 95 Dean Street, London, W1D 3TB
Web: http://www.redveg.com/
Maoz
Maoz is a falafel restaurant. They’ll make your falafel to order and they have a wide range of salad to eat. They have side orders such as chips. You can either eat in or take out.
A good option if you want some quick vegetarian food.
Price: Less than £10
Address: 43 Old Compton Street, London, W1D 6HG
Web: http://www.maozusa.com/
Mildreds
Mildreds is a great vegetarian restaurant in Soho. You can get pasta, tofu, burgers and a tofu stir fry. On the day I went I had a mushroom and ale pie! They have a selection of deserts including a tofu cheese cake.
Mildreds also run a cake shop on the same road at number 53 called Mrs Marengo’s.
Price: £10-£15
Address: 45 Lexington Street, London, W1F 9AN
Web: http://www.mildreds.co.uk/
Woodlands Restaurant
Woodlands is a smart looking vegetarian restaurant near to Leicester Square. They have the usual vegetarian options of dosa, thali, and rice dishes.
Price: £10
Address: 37 Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4EA
Web: http://www.woodlandsrestaurant.co.uk/
Sakonis Vegetarian Restaurant
The restaurants above are all in the West end of London. Sakonis is a lot further out in Harrow, but if you want very cheap authentic vegetarian Indian food then it is worth a visit. At lunch times they do a great buffet with dosas, chill paneer, bhel poori, and a variety of curries. You can eat as much as you like. Plain and strawberry ice cream is included in the price.
Price: Less than £10
Address: 5-8 Dominion Parade, Station Road, Harrow, HA1 2TR
Web: http://www.sakonis.co.uk/
Standard restaurants with good Vegetarian options
Pizza Express
Pizza Express is a big chain and is a safe bet if you want a tasy pizza or pasta. There is a good selection of meat free dishes here. The funghi, margarita and giardiniera pizzas are of course vegi, but if you want something different you can ask them to put whatever vegetable toppings you like onto your pizza. Just don’t let them put parmesan cheese on your pizza as this is made with animal rennet.
Price: £10-£15
Address: 7-9 Charlotte Street Marylebone, London, W1T 1RG
Web: http://www.pizzaexpress.com/
Thai Cottage
Thai Cottage is a small Thai restaurant in Soho with a family feel. They have many tasty and sometimes quite spicy Thai dishes. I particuarly like their stir fried tofu. A vegetarian green curry is also available.
Price: £10
Address: 34 D’arblay St, London, W1F 8EX
Nandos
Nandos is a chain and their restaurants are all over London. They are known as being a chicken restaurant but don’t let this put you off. They have a number of very tasty vegetarian options (which can be as spicy or not depending on which marinade you order).
When you arrive you are allocated a table number, you then order from the till and sit down. Your food will be brought to you. Good vegi options include the veggie, bean or portobello bugers and the pittas which are especially tasty with the spicy marinade. On the side you can order peri peri chips, salad, rice and corn on the cob.
Price: £10 each
Address: 57-59 Goodge Street, London, W1T 1TH
Web: http://www.nandos.co.uk/
Thai Square
There are many Thai Square restaurants around London but the best one is in Trafalgar Square.
If you are looking for a ‘posh’ looking restaurant with good vegetarian options you may find it difficult. There are countless expensive restaurants in London but most of the pricier ones have really bad vegetarian options. Often they have a token option such as spaghetti pomodoro – hardly very imaginative. The Thai Square in Trafalgar Square fills a niche here. The decor inside is nice enough to take a vegetarian on a special occasion, and there are many good vegetarian options.
Price: £20 each
Address: 21-24 Cockspur Street, Trafalgar Square, London, SW1Y 5BL
Web: http://www.thaisquare.net/
Map
This is a map of all the central London restaurants (only Sakonis which is in Harrow is excluded!). Fully vegetarian restaurants are shown in green and other restaurants with good vegetarian options are shown in yellow.
View Best Vegetarian restaurants in London in a larger map
Other tips
If you are going to a Thai or Chineese restaurant watch out for restaurants putting fish or oyster sauce on your food. Ask for no oyster sauce but you can tell them that soy sauce is fine.
Realistically if you go to a restaurant that also serves meat there is a good chance that there may be a small amount of contamination from shared food utensils or shared grills. The situation here in London is much better than in other European cities. If the idea of any potential mixing of utensils is too much for you then you are better off sticking with pure vegetarian restaurants.
There are some there I haven’t been to or heard of, I though I knew all the veggie restaurants in London!
If you are ever Bethnal Green way try the Wild Cherry Cafe. They have a small but great menu. On a Saturday they serve a great veggie breakfast, plus good wraps, salads and pancakes. During the week they are open until 7ish and serve about 3 dishes. It is canteen style – they serve it straight away.
Vita Organic on Wardour St in Soho is fantastic, but is small and gets busy. It is all vegan and very healthy. They have about 10 main meals and many salads, and you get a plate and choose several dishes, again canteen style.
If you want a proper restaurant Eat and Two Veg near Baker St is great. Good atmosphere and good menu.
Thanks for the great guide. I go to London next week and as a Vegan I will defenitely some of the places you suggest.
I recently heard from a friend in London that Eat and Two Veg and Red Veg have both closed :-(
However here in snowy Edinburgh there are lots of great veggie places. Such as
http://www.davidbann.com/food.php
http://www.hendersonsofedinburgh.co.uk/
Both good vegetarian restaurants.
Hi Emily,
You are right about Red Veg closing. According to their website it is due to Crossrail! They do however have another café in Brighton if you ever go there.
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